Sunday, April 5, 2009

Eco-friendly musings and the Cosmetics Industry

Recently Linda Wells of Allure railed against excessive packaging of high end skincare and makeup. Do we really need all those boxes?It seems the more pricey the product, the more wasteful the wrappings are.There have been lines that have tried to do their part; MAC gives you a free lipstick when you turn in 10 empty MAC containers. Cargo has recycled packaging and even has one that is embedded with seeds that you can plant. Stila has cardboard bullets for their lipsticks.So lately I have been thinking about what small contributions brideface can make to the cause of discarding less stuff.I am using fewer disposable sponges in favor of brushes. I still have a baby wipes addiction; am trying to work on it. I use pump bottles rather than products in jars, that require sanitary remaval with a disposable swab or spatula.One of my pet peeves is disposable mascara wands. They are expensive to purchase, and even the highest quality you can buy are pretty sub standard. I am never completely satisfied with the application they provide, but what can ya do; you cannot sanitize a mascara wand. So I plan to request that my brides and bridesmaids provide their own favorite waterproof mascara for my use on the day of the wedding and their trial run. Better lashes AND less waste. (I will still carry throwaway wands and mascara in case they forget)Now if we could get the cosmetics companies to drop the boxes encasing every product!

1 comment:

I don't think it's just relegated to the MU industry, though. As I was unpacking wedding gifts, I came across our everyday china. Each set of four (e.g. four plates, four bowls, four mugs) was packaged in no less than THREE different boxes, with even more packaging inside the last box. So wasteful. :(